I've been lurking on these forums for the past few months, reading advice and scouring for ideas. I got the ok from she-who-wears-the-pants to build up another project bike, as my Litespeed has recently become my daily ride. The aim was to find a sweet spot between lightness and price, hence a combination of new and almost-new parts. I spent a long time wondering whether new Red was justifiable over old Red for the price, or if I should go Ultegra Di2. Anyway, I just finished building it today, so here she is!

More money was sunk into the grouppo than anything else, since it was impossible to find used 2012 SRAM Red! Hence my dilemma between 2011 and 2012 Red, as I could have assembled a 2011 drivetrain for a lot less money. Also, I got the frameset and wheels REALLY cheap. How cheap? $800AUD for the frameset + BB, and $710AUD for the wheels + tires! I'd love a set of Zipp 303s or similar (as it'd easily make this a sub-6kg build), but I couldn't pass up the PD Altairs for the price.

The bike's only just been built, so I haven't had a chance to ride it or test the brakes yet. You can see from the photo that it's been a wet weekend here in Melbourne. As for the stumpy ISP, yeah, it came cut pretty short, although there's enough adjustability for me to dial it in properly. I have short legs and a not-quite-so-short torso (I'm only 5ft 6), but I do need to put the saddle up about 1.5cm.

Coming from Melbourne and now living in The Netherlands, this bike caught my attention Great build (and weight), especially for the price you paid. Love the photos...makes me home sick How do you like the 2012 Red groupset, i have the 2011 and i am impressed...wonder if the 12 would be much better.

Thanks for the complements guys regarding the photos. For those that care, I shoot a Nikon D700, and the lens is a Voigtlander Ultron 40mm f2 SL II. Yep, that's right, manual focus. The Voigtlander renders a cooler colour balance than my other lenses, so it was perfect for this particular autumn/winter shot.

Without having ridden the new bike yet (aside from on the trainer to help set up the bar and shifter position), all I can confirm is that the Yaw front derailleur is quite easy to set up if you follow the official SRAM instruction video on Youtube, and that there is indeed no chain rub even in extreme crosschaining. I recently completely serviced and recabled my Litespeed, so my old Force groupset is running like new and is beautifully smooth - the new Red will have to be something damned special to beat it!

Speaking of my Litespeed, here's a photo. It's a 2000 Tuscany, bought used as a frameset in 2005 and has been in evolution ever since. Just like my new Giant, it's been build out of used parts. The drivetrain, as mentioned before, is SRAM Force from back when SRAM first released its road groupsets. Since I moved to Australia 4 months ago, I've been riding to work instead of buying a car. As I'd left my old Fuji home in New Zealand (to ride when I holiday back there), the Litespeed has become a daily bike - hence the Giant as my new weekend ride.

Not sure how much it weighs, probably a bit over 7kg. Build is as follows:

No issue with the height (not about to be an internet bike fitter) but rather the colour.

It grabs my attention. And not in a good way.

Didn't come with a white one?

You mean the big black seatpost mast topper? Nope, it only comes in black! I thought about painting it white, so I Photoshopped it during the build. Problem is that looks even weirder, as the Giant logo and orange stripe suddenly end where the mast topper overlaps. So black wins. Also, it breaks the white in a similar way to the stem, so aesthetically it works for me.

No issue with the height (not about to be an internet bike fitter) but rather the colour.

It grabs my attention. And not in a good way.

Didn't come with a white one?

You mean the big black seatpost mast topper? Nope, it only comes in black! I thought about painting it white, so I Photoshopped it during the build. Problem is that looks even weirder, as the Giant logo and orange stripe suddenly end where the mast topper overlaps. So black wins. Also, it breaks the white in a similar way to the stem, so aesthetically it works for me.

I have the same bike but my "big black seatpost mast topper" is much shorter. There are 2 versions, and you have the long one. Unless your mast is cut too short and you have the stack filled with spacers, you can swap for the shorter stock topper. The whole "Giant" along the mast may then be visible and the look more seamless.

Nice Bike, SpacePolice2! I've always like those Rabobank Giants, I think it looks much better than the current generation of Rabobank TCR Advanced SL. What size is your bike? And what is your saddle height from BB to top of saddle?

EDITED, meant to address to SpacePOlice2.

Last edited by SmallEngine on Tue Jun 12, 2012 6:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Sadly, the ISP has big paint chips all the way down the back, from the previous owner adjusting the seatpost badly. Some day, I may get it repainted. Of course, I'll have to find a shorter seat post top to use first. Sounds like an easy way to save a big chunk of weight!

Size is small. BB centre to rails is 66cm. Are you looking at buying a used one with a cut ISP?

The paint on the frame is rather thick, so I don't think some quick touchup paint will do the job. The paint probably has to be sanded back a bit to even out the edges of the chips, and then properly repainted and finished. The frame itself is actually slightly off-white, so it'll definitely need to be properly matched. Would be nice to get it done and get the shorter seatpost topper, as I'm only about 1cm above the bottom-most setting (ie. plenty of length left on the ISP to support the shorter version).

Yes, I currently ride a size small TCR Advanced SL, non-ISP model, and really like it. I am curious about the ISP models and half keeping an eye out for one that might come up for sale locally, and wondered how it would look with my saddle height.

I like the look (in S) of the last generation of TCR Advanced SLs, better than the current ones.

Who is online

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum